Briggs Cunningham at Le Mans

One chapter in the story of a great sportsman

AT THE END of the Second World War the French Government helped to restart one of the most exciting of motor races — the Le Mans 24 hours. It needed a huge effort to restore the war-torn circuit to its former pre-war racing glory. The pride of French racing was at stake and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) was raring to go.

So it was that in 1949 the sound of high-performance machinery was once more heard echoing through the trees and, after driving for nearly 23 of the 24 hours, Luigi Chinetti won the race in a V12, 2-litre Ferrari. Significant to this story, 1949 was also the first year to allow prototypes to compete which opened the door to smaller race car manufacturers from around the world.

Attending that year as a spectator was the Sports Car Club of America’s Alec Ulmann who not only went on to found the Sebring 12-hour race but was also instrumental in getting his friend Briggs Swift Cunningham to enter Le Mans the following year. Having thought it was important to get an American team racing at Le Mans, Ulmann approached the ACO and suggested Cunningham as a possible competitor and, on returning to Palm Beach, Ulmann was told by Briggs that he had received an invitation for the 1950 race and that he would be entering the race.

After much deliberation Cunningham entered two Cadillac’s that year, one a virtually standard Type 61 Coupe de Ville and the other not quite the road car that it started out as. In order to learn more about the race and the opportunities of the new prototype regulations, Briggs discarded the original Cadillac body and with the mechanical skills of Bill Frick and Phil Walters, who were making names for themselves with the “Fordillac Specials” and body design from the Grumman Aircraft Company, “Le Monstre,” as it was dubbed by the French, was born.

It was at this time that my parents, Derek and Mary Waller, came on the scene.

Briggs had invited fellow Bentley Drivers Club member and Chairman Stan Sedgwick to act as chief timekeeper for the team. Stan knew of my parents’ passion for racing and invited them along for “a bit of a jolly.” And so, the European Cunningham Campaign began with two very different cars.

Phil Walters and Briggs himself drove “Le Monstre,” but during practice Walters offered to take the attractive secretary of the ACO’s Chairman for a spin around the circuit and forgot that some of the roads were still open to normal traffic. Coming around Arnage at some speed he was met by a horse and cart coming the other way.

“I guess I was going a little too fast for the conditions,” said a rather shamefaced Walters on returning to the Cunningham camp. The damage was extensive to the carv — and his pride — although fortunately his passenger only tore her stockings. The car was repaired quickly and managed a very creditable 11th place in the race.

In 10th place were the Collier brothers, Sam and Miles, in the “standard” car. The Colliers, long-time friends of Briggs and successful pre-war drivers, had their own fun and games turning out in business suits, including ties, to drive the Cadillac Sedan in the race. Briggs came away that year badly bitten by the Le Mans bug, as did Derek and Mary Waller.

In 1951, the Cunningham Le Mans campaign resumed with the first proper Cunningham race cars — the C-2R’s. Sedgwick brought the pit team back and Alfred Momo, who had been with Rolls-Royce of America, managed the team of mechanics. Throughout the fifties the team remained almost intact with the Brit’s making it a “working” vacation. Three C-2R’s lined up at the start but only one made it to the finish in 18th place — the number 4 car with John Fitch and Phil Walters driving. Both the other cars, one driven by George Rand and Fred Wacker, and the other driven by Briggs and George Huntoon, came to grief in the wet conditions. For John Fitch it was to be the first of six visits to Le Mans with the Cunningham Equipe.

For 1952 there were new drivers in addition to Fitch, Walters, and Cunningham. George Rice, Douane Carter, and the imposing form of Bill Spear were given the car keys. A young driver who was taken on as a “spare” but unfortunately not given the driving seat was a young Phil Hill. New cars for this year were two roadsters (C-4R’s) and the C-4RK coupe. Compared to the virtually untested C-2R’s (the only pre-race mileage then was between the French port and the circuit gate) the C-4R had been thoroughly shaken down and indeed raced by Phil Walters at Bridgehampton the month before. Again though, the two cars never made the finish line — the C-4RK suffered valve gear failure, as did the Fitch/Rice roadster.

Briggs and Bill Spear faired far better with a 4th place finish with Briggs driving for over 19 of the 24 hours. The reason for Briggs’ virtually solo drive was that he had learned that Spear had a sight problem and therefore he felt it necessary to drive the lion’s share of the race himself. Although Briggs’ drive of 19 hours was heroic, it was Pierre Levegh in the Talbot who infamously drove over 23 hours, leading by some margin, only to miss a gear and blow his engine in the final hour. For the Cunningham team to take 4th place was indeed a great achievement in only their second year of racing Cunningham cars.

Le Mans 1953 saw three different models for the Cunningham team to play with. The C-4R was back with the C-4RK but a new and slippery C-5R made its debut. Nicknamed “The Shark” it proved to be the best of the Cunningham bunch; however, it was not without its problems. The body design had not taken into account the enormous volume of air being displaced down the formidable Mulsanne straight and the bodywork blew out just behind the front wheels.

1953 was the first year of disc brakes and the Jaguar C Types were virtually unstoppable — forgive the pun. The C-5R was the fastest car on the circuit by far and pulled away on the straights but the C-Type drivers were able to leave their braking until the last minute, and this made all the difference.

With Briggs and Bill Spear, now wearing glasses, in last year’s C-4R, and the C-4RK coupe piloted by Charles Moran and John Gordon Benett, the new C-5R was given to Phil Walters and John Fitch. It was a great race for the pair as they took 3rd place behind the two Jaguars. Things were getting better every year.

In 1954 the team reverted to the C-4R’s again. A new C-6R was in development and during the spring of ’54 Briggs had some interesting discussions with Mercury Marine about using a new two- stroke V-12 marine engine in the new car. Briggs was as enthusiastic about racing on the water as he was around a circuit, indeed he would eventually captain the USA entry in the Americas Cup in 1958. However, in ’54 the engine was not going to be ready in time and the “overgrown-outboard” powered car was dropped.

Instead, a Ferrari 375MM was entered alongside the two C-4R’s, sporting new-fangled liquid-cooled brakes with huge air scoops grafted on to the bodywork. Briggs had failed to acquire disc brakes from Dunlop after Jaguar stepped in and spiked the deal. During the race Phil Walters and John Fitch had the Ferrari running in 6th place until a rocker arm broke leading to the car’s retirement.

After the race Briggs and Momo went to see Enzo Ferrari to remonstrate about this failure of one of his components. Enzo, ever the diplomat, denied that any Ferrari part would ever fail and even charged Briggs the $9.95 for its replacement and this disagreement led to a “breakdown in communications” between the two competitive car makers that was never fully patched up.

The 1955 Le Mans was a turning point not only for Cunningham but also for the world of motor sport.

Briggs entered two cars, the finally finished C-6R now with a 3-litre Offenhauser engine and a non-Cunningham Jaguar D-Type. John Gordon Benett, Vice President of Jaguar North America, had arranged a meeting between Jaguar’s Sir William Lyons and Briggs at Le Mans the previous year. A deal was laid out with Sir William agreeing to supply Briggs with three D-Types if no more Cunningham’s were built for racing. At that time, Briggs was coming to the conclusion that being a small volume car maker was not all it was cracked up to be and readily agreed.

It was the start of a great association between the two companies that would lead to many blue and white striped Jaguars, including the E-Type prototype E2A, appearing at races throughout the next few years. The C-6R, although the lightest and most promising of all the Cunningham’s, did not live up to its pedigree. Still without disc brakes, the Offey engine never ran cool enough to reach its full potential. It finally came to a stop whilst in 13th place early on Sunday morning. Not the most fulfilling way for Briggs to bow out of Le Mans as a constructor.

The two Cunningham entered cars were still running when the worst accident in motor racing history occurred. Much has been written elsewhere of the tragedy, which led to the death of Pierre Levegh and 83 spectators, and some say that it was this that led to Briggs taking a break from Le Mans and not building his own cars, but this is not the case. The accident, however, was a turning point for Phil Walters who never raced anywhere again.

My mother witnessed the accident at close quarters, indeed helping a shocked Mike Hawthorn climb over the pit wall when he stopped short at the Cunningham pit. All who were present that day were changed in one way or another, and motor racing changed forever.

Briggs Swift Cunningham would return to Le Mans in 1960 for a few more years with various “other” cars including Corvettes, Jaguars, and Maserati’s, but the days of the amateur constructor, entrant, and driver were nearly over. For the many who witnessed the Cunningham Le Mans campaign of the early fifties, the achievements of this great sportsman would be remembered for a long, long time.

After racing for five years on dry land and four wheels, Briggs returned to his pre-war love affair with yacht racing. Three years after leaving Le Mans, Briggs famously skippered the New York Yacht Club’s 12 Metre yacht Columbia to a victory over the British entry Sceptre. One could be forgiven for comparing this to an American Cunningham versus British Jaguar battle for 24-hour supremacy all over again… but this time in the choppy waters of Newport, Rhode Island!

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